The Berrima and District Art Society is very fortunate to have as their patron Mrs Peggy McKay.
Recommended by the previous patron, Peggy has held this position for the last ten years.
Taking to drawing at the tender age of six, Peggy will be having a retrospective exhibition early next year.
Born in Adelaide her family moved to Sydney shortly afterwards and she started school at Ascham where she displayed an interest in and a talent for sketching and watercolour painting. It was suggested that, as Peggy had little interest in the normal cirriculum she might be better suited to another school and Peggy was enrolled at Frensham where she not only pursued her artistic talents but also excelled in English, History and Geography.
Failing to gain the necessary marks to pursue her thoughts of architecture her taste was reflected in the home she built on Normandie Farm.
When she presented her portfolio to East Sydney Tech she was admitted into the second year class.
While there she recalls a teacher by the name of Phylis Shillato who “was direct and firm and who frightened us all a bit.” “Phyliss inspired me as an all rounder and I tried to follow in her footsteps,” said Peggy.
Her formal education ceased when she joined her family on an extended world tour.
She married Harold Wolfson in 1937 and they honeymooned in Hawaii where she became one of the very few female members of the Outrigger Club.
Harold and his Lancaster Crew were shot down and killed over Brussels leaving her with two young sons.
Working on her father’s properties at Wagga she became a very competent horsewoman working with sheep and cattle. On her return to Sydney she worked with the RAN at Garden Island in the mapping section.
While raising her sons she held the position of fashion director with a leading advertising firm.
During the Easter of 1949 she met Tom McKay. They were married in October of that same year. A marriage that has lasted the tests of time. They left the city and moved out to Tom’s property in Exeter which had become a little neglected during the war years.
Peggy spent much time establishing a beautiful garden which was for many years open for charities.
As a very talented artist Peggy became involved in the BDAS in it’s early years having been president in 1965 and 1966.
Invited to be patron because of her links with the Society’s origins and her strong sense of purpose and traditions.
This is an honour that she receives much pride and pleasure from.
It has only been in the last six years that Peggy took on the challenge of sculpting.
“My best piece, a woman seated, blew up in the kiln,” said Peggy who admitted to being heartbroken when months of work was shattered.
She enjoys sculpting forms of the female body as “they can be all shapes and sizes and can be manipulated into any position.”
Highlights of her artistic career have been the Wellington Art Prize and a highly commended at The Fishers Ghost Art Prize.
One of her contemporaries was Rachel Roxborough who started in the arts at the same time as Peggy.
Poetry is another talent that Peggy possesses. “I have a firm view about things and I write about my feelings of modern topics,” said Peggy.
Following a recent illness Peggy is frustrated about her temporary memory loss and loss of some eyesight. She is determined to get well and “I want to walk quickly.” She is progressing well and has a determination that sees her challenging her memory at every opportunity.
She recalls the early days of the society when they met around the billiard table at the home of Lady Hoskins. She remembers the first exhibition of the BDAS that was held at the CWA rooms in Moss Vale and then in the Qantas hut behind Vaughan’s Hardware store. For ten years they exhibited at The Courthouse in Berrima and she recalls the controversy caused by one of the exhibitions when a reclining woman by Fred Latre won the first prize and how it was hidden behind a large aspidistra on stage. She stuck to her guns declaring that “the judges decision was final” and so to is it to this day.
Throughout her illness Peggy has received many well wishes from the members of the Society. A testament to her popularity and a recognition of her many years of dedication to the BDAS and its members.
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